How does Laura Whitcomb use imagery in A Certain Slant of Light?

Imagery:

Boys and girls hid in the library stacks or behind the gym and flew at each other with no promise of love or even kindness, tasting one another in clumsy attempts to steal pleasure before they could be hurt or hated."

"They didn't sing or play fiddle at the hearth; they turned on the stereo. They didn't tell stories on the porch; they watched television."